


The Knights of the Resistance

by leoba



Series: Finnreylo Murder AU [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, Historical Reenactment, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, LARPing, Lots of Relationship Talk, Multi, Murder Talk, Polyamory, also ben is a bit jealous, although rated M for a tiny bit of sex talk, ben is awkward and thinks too much, ben is dealing with making the relationship public, but no smut!, but not really it's a "scholarly work of art" MAN, finn has a secret, mention of past finn/phasma, mention of past stormpilot, some fluff and some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 10:19:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15683445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leoba/pseuds/leoba
Summary: Rey and Ben have a brunch date, Finn has a secret.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third story in my Finnreylo Murder AU series. I'm doing this as a series rather than a multi-chapter because, while I'm interested in continuing this storyline and figuring out the dynamics of this threesome, I don't really have an arc in mind. So although I'm writing them as a series of one-shots the stories will make reference to each other (especially to the first one, [In The Clearing and What Happened After](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15606219), which I encourage you to read if you haven't already as references are made here to events there. This story also references a scene from the second story, [Pillow Talk](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15661533)).
> 
> EDIT: I will be adding a second chapter to include something important that I wasn't able to get into the original story, so stay tuned!

Rey and Ben are on a brunch date.

Although they’ve essentially been living together for a month, this is the first actual date of any combination of their trio. In the first couple of weeks they spent most of the time not at work in Ben’s bedroom (and bathroom, kitchen, living room, and hallway), and then Ben was out of town for a few days, and when he got back they had to make up for lost time, and then the next week of work happened. Saturdays Rey has to work at the garage in the morning, and Finn and Ben would spend that time running errands until she got home in the afternoon, but that’s not really a _date_. Rey and Ben haven’t been on out a Sunday either. Those days have consisted of sleeping late, lounging around the apartment, reading, and watching movies. Ben will go to the gym for a few hours in the later afternoon, coming back worn out and muscles sore, but full of testosterone that he works out on Rey in the evening. So here they are, their fourth Sunday morning, drinking coffee and scouring the menu at Ben’s favorite diner.

It’s just Rey and Ben because Finn has something secret and mysterious he does on Sundays that he will not tell them about. He disappears on Sunday morning, reappearing Monday after work; one weekend he hadn’t even spent the night, leaving after dinner on Saturday. The previous week he had shown up around bedtime on Sunday, walking with a limp and begging for a soak in the jacuzzi tub, but he wouldn’t tell them how he’d managed to injure himself. At first Rey was certain that he was going to church, but on the second Sunday morning as he crept out of bed before seven she breathed “have fun at church,” and he laughed quietly and said, “I wouldn’t call it church, baby,” before kissing her hair and tiptoeing out the door so as not to wake Ben.

Although the secrecy bugs her she’s been trying to treat it like a game, a bit of a curiosity, and she tells herself it’s an interesting thing about Finn that she doesn’t _really_ mind being secret because eventually he’ll tell them about it. Ben’s never said anything about Finn’s Sundays one way or the other, but as they sit in the diner and Rey sips her coffee, suggesting more and more ridiculous things that Finn could be doing at that moment while Ben finalizes his meal selections, it’s clear that he’s more agitated than she is.

She considers the proposition that he’s planning another murder, but that seems wrong to joke about, a wound-opener, a mood-killer. She goes for some sillier options. “Maybe he volunteers at the zoo. That would be fun, he could get us free tickets to see the penguins. I love penguins. Oooo, maybe he’s in a rock band and they practice on Sundays! That would be very cool. I wonder what kind of music they’d play? He mostly listens to that weird experimental metal stuff, but he seems more like a folk-music singer. Anyway, here’s another good one: Maybe he’s making a movie, and he wants to surprise us with it when it’s finished! It’ll win the Palme D’Or and he’ll invite us to walk with him on the red carpet. It’ll be amazing.”

She pauses to take a sip of coffee and Ben closes his menu and grumbles, “Or maybe he’s fucking somebody else.”

He says this as the waitress steps up to take their order, and there’s just a moment of awkwardness before Rey throws her a beatific smile and places her order, followed by Ben, and they hand the waitress their menus as she hurries away to put their orders in.

Ben’s ears are flaming as he runs a hand through his hair, avoiding Rey’s gaze, and pulls over the plastic thing holding the single-servings of jam. He plucks them out one by one, stacking them to construct little buildings. A few seconds later he brings the dish of single-servings of half and half over to join the party.

In this moment, Rey realizes that she’s never been with Ben in public before. Although Ben and Finn have been out together on Saturdays to go to the farmer’s market or run other domestic errands, she and Ben haven’t been out before. For that matter, she and Finn haven’t been out either. It hasn’t bothered her, in fact she hadn’t really thought about it, but now, sitting in this plastic booth and watching Ben build walls of jam and knock them down while he studiously avoids her, she thinks maybe that’s been a mistake. If they’re going to be in a relationship together, they will need to get comfortable with being out and around other people, not cocooned in their own private world.

This realization doesn’t help her understand what’s going on with Ben, though. He’s not expressed any concern to Rey before about Finn’s fidelity to them. Maybe he’s nervous because he’s relatively inexperienced? But they talked in broad strokes about each other’s relationship histories early on, his experience is roughly comparable to hers, and it hasn’t been an issue before anyway. And, given the way things have been going, he doesn’t have any reason to worry.

Rey takes another sip of coffee and clears her throat, and says, “Ben?”

He still won’t look at her. “I’m sorry I said that, that wasn’t a good thing to say. I’m sorry.” He knocks down a tower of half and half and the cylinders of paper and plastic scatter onto Rey’s side of the table. She picks up two of them and places one on the other.

“Ben, I know this is new for you. It’s new for me, too.” At that he looks at her, and he actually looks afraid, so she reaches out her hand, palm up, and he takes it between his own, then lets out a shuddering breath. She rubs her thumb slowly across the knuckles of his right hand. It surprises her how a man with a JD and a well-paying professional job, such a physically imposing man, can be so vulnerable. Her heart aches for him even as she knows that his worries about Finn are for nothing. “I want you to tell me what’s bothering you, but first I want you to understand that even though we haven’t come to any kind of formal arrangement there is no way that Finn is with anyone else but us right now. Okay?”

Ben turns her hand over and rubs his thumbs on the back of her hand. He exhales and presses her fingers to his cheek. “I know, Rey. I don’t know why I’m feeling like this. It's just like,” he pauses and closes his eyes as he searches for the right word. “I feel unbalanced, somehow. Things have been sideways since, you know.” He looks up at her, through his eyelashes, and she feels terrible for even considering joking about the murders a few minutes ago.

Rey leans towards him, across the table. “I know. It’s been a lot. A lot of change. Good, really good. I’m so glad I met you and Finn. I’m glad he’s gone, you know.” Rey will not mention Plutt by name unless absolutely necessary. She’d like to forget him, but she knows that’s not ever going to happen. “I try not to think about what would have happened to me if I hadn’t made that turn into the park.” Ben turns her hand over again and presses his lips gently to the inside of her wrist.

“I think about that all the time,” he says quietly. “I don’t like to think about it, but I do. I wonder who would have found you, if anyone else would have helped you.”

Rey takes both his hands and gives them a squeeze. “ _You_ found me, Ben. You and Finn helped me. I’m yours now, you’ll never escape.” She throws him a cheeky grin, which he returns, a bit more shyly.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way, you know. I don’t want to escape, actually I want you to hold me down until I cry.” His gaze is heated now, and Rey and feel her cheeks turn pink under his examination, surprised not for the first time how he move so quickly from shy awkwardness to just being damn sexy.

The waitress arrives with their food, and they sit back to take in the feast: two plates of eggs, potatoes and bacon, strawberry pancakes, a plate of corned beef hash, a little basket of beignets, and refills on their coffee.

* * *

They eat until they can’t eat any more, and have the leftovers boxed up for later. They leave the restaurant hand in hand, and Ben looks down to admire Rey. She looks beautiful today, dressed up in a dark blue halter sundress covered with yellow sunbursts, wearing gold sandals, her hair loose around her shoulders instead of pulled back into a bun as usual. With the large sunglasses on her face she looks positively sophisticated. He’s so used to seeing her in overalls or jeans and grubby teeshirts or flannels (or in nothing at all) so it’s a treat for them both for her to dress up: she gets to feel pretty and he gets to look at her feeling pretty. When Ben moves to guide them back to where the Audi is parked, Rey has other ideas. “Oh Ben, let’s go to the park. It’s just a block down, and I heard that they’re finally done repairing the carousel so we might be able to take a ride. Please?” She pushes her sunglasses down and gives him her best eyelash flutter, and he laughs and allows her to pull him along with her.

The town park is a wide lawn, divided roughly in four quadrants. The carousel is in the northwest, a small lake (complete with ducks and paddleboats) is in the northeast, and the southern quadrants join together in a larger space, slightly hilly, where people are picnicking and lounging around, enjoying the sun and the breeze. There’s a grove of trees at the bottom of a hill in the southwest, not far from the carousel, and as they take the rambling path towards the ride Rey squeals in delight and points towards the trees.

“Oh look, Ben! Are those people LARPing? I knew some guys who did that in school, it always sounded like so much fun. Can we go watch them, please please please?”

Ben frowns and attempts to pull her towards the carousel. “Oh, come on Rey, really? It seems pretty silly, doesn’t it?”

Rey pouts up at him, then stands on her toes and gives him a peck on the mouth. “It seems _fun_ , I think, whether it’s silly or not, and I want to watch, so come on!” She lets go his hand and runs ahead, barreling down the hill and stopping next to a small group of people, a few costumed and several who appear to be spectators, other people visiting the park drawn towards the costumes and the action.

Ben makes his way more slowly, bag of leftovers in hand, and by the time he arrives Rey is already talking to one of the costumed people, a short man with wavy dark hair poking out from a chainmail hood, wearing what appears to be full chainmail armor under an orange and white tunic. He’s looking at Rey as though she’s a snack and he wants to eat her up. Ben hates him. It turns out this group isn’t LARPing, they’re historical reenactors focused on the medieval period, practicing authentic fighting techniques with real weapons, and the man is explaining the difference between reenactment and LARPing to Rey when Ben walks up and puts his arm around her.

“So, with Live Action Role Playing the focus is on the game, on coming up with a compelling story and following it through with the contributions of the players. This isn’t a game, this is a scholarly work of art. We study medieval weapons and methods of fighting, we build the weapons and the armor and then we try them out to see how they work.” The person standing next to him, a stout man with a beard wearing a similar costume, laughs and adds, “It’s a great excuse to hit each other with swords. In addition to being really interesting, it’s a good way to work off stress.”

Rey smiles up at Ben and puts her arm around his waist. “Hi Ben!” She gestures to the two men. “This is Poe, and this is Snap. They’re two of the reenactors, obviously. Guys, this is my boyfriend, Ben.”

Ben gives them both a little wave, but despite how annoyed he’d been with the dark haired guy – Poe – just a minute ago, he’s completely distracted by Rey’s introduction. She’d introduced him as her _boyfriend_ , without any awkwardness, without even thinking about it. He’s her boyfriend, she said so.

His head is swimming. So this means she’s _his_ _girlfriend_. Is she also Finn’s girlfriend? Is Finn _Ben’s_ boyfriend? Somehow he hadn’t considered this, the labeling. He just thought of them as _his Finn_ and _his Rey_ , without regard for how other people might want to describe them. This is what happens when you take your relationship public. All at once Ben needs to sit down.

He gives Rey a squeeze and points over to the trees. “I’m going to take a seat over there, okay?” She glances at the trees, then looks over to where a pair of reenactors are getting ready to spar.

“If you don’t mind I’m going to stay here, Poe said he’ll tell me what’s happening as these guys fight.” She points to the two people standing several yards away from the crowd, both dressed in full armor including helmets, holding what appear to be full-sized broadswords. The swords are enormous and look heavy.

Poe grins at Ben and points to the fighter on the left. “That’s Storm, he’s wearing chainmail under what’s called a coat of plates, that thing that looks, well, like a coat made of metal. There’s leather under there holding it together; this is a very common fourteenth-century design. The other one is Faz. She’s wearing plate armor in a later style, more like fifteenth-century. She made it of iron, but the armor could also be made of steel. Storm made his armor, too.” Ben knows he’s making a disgusted face, but Poe is all smiles.

Rey is bouncing on the balls of her feet and looks up at him. “Ben, this is so cool, isn’t it? Are you sure you want to sit over there by yourself? Would you rather stay here with me?” He can’t see her eyes through the sunglasses but from the pull of the corners of her mouth he can tell she looks concerned, despite her excitement.

He smiles down at her as best he can, still feeling off-centered from their earlier discussion and now annoyed with Poe. He really needs a bit of time to himself before he does something stupid. “No sweetheart, I just want to sit down for a minute, and it’ll be nice in the shade. You just come get me when you’re ready to go to the carousel, okay?” She gives him a quick squeeze around the middle and a pat on the butt before she turns her attention back to the reenactors.

* * *

Rey is spellbound. As a teenager she saw a knight in a television commercial once, when she snuck into Plutt’s den after he fell asleep, drunk, in his armchair, and she’d thought of it one night last week when Finn insisted that they all watch _A Knights Tale_ after dinner, but seeing people in armor, with _real swords_ , up close is completely different.

The two fighters, Storm and Faz, face each other, swords gripped tightly with both hands encased in metal gloves. (“The gloves are called _gauntlets_ ,” explains Poe, and Rey rolls her eyes because _duh_ ) They’re both big people and Faz is taller, by a few inches, but Storm is broader, so it looks like a pretty equal match-up. A young woman with shoulder-length dark hair and Asian features wearing jean short overalls holds a flag between them and when she lifts it up everyone yells, and the sparring begins. She runs back and stands with Poe and Rey, giving Rey a friendly grin.

The fighters start by circling around each other, both feinting forward a few times before pulling back, but before long Storm runs forward with a cry and attacks Faz, and within seconds Rey is overwhelmed by the sound of crashing metal, drawn in to the sight of sword on sword, sword on body, the fighters pushing against each other, then drawing apart only to pummel each other again.

Rey is yelling and bouncing along with everyone else, and Poe is still trying to narrate the action but she isn’t even listening. She catches the eye of the young woman next to her, who grins again and yells over the din, “It’s pretty wild, isn’t it?” Rey can only nod and whoop.

The fight continues for a few more minutes, following the same basic phases: circle, feint, attack, blows, pull apart, circle again. Rey has just enough time to calm down a bit before the action starts up each cycle. She blushes when she realizes it reminds her a lot of sex, and she chances a glance over to where Ben sits amongst the trees. He’s eating a beignet but watching the fight with interest, and he looks like he’s calmed down about whatever was bothering him earlier. She wishes Finn could be there with him, eating beignets, and wonders again where on earth he could be.

She’s drawn back to the fight when the crowd goes wild, and she sees that the fighters are close together, arms over their heads. In a moment she realizes that Faz is holding Storm’s arms with one hand as she bashes the pommel of her sword into the top of his helmet over and over. Eventually he pulls away, but when he does he makes some kind of signal and the woman next to Rey blows the whistle that’s hanging around her neck, marking the end of the bout. The two fighters come together again, but instead of clashing they hug, then step back and give each other a good-natured chest-bump before walking over to an open cooler, arm-in-arm.

* * *

Ben has to admit that the fight was impressive, more interesting than he expected. He stands up, brushes powdered sugar off his jeans, picks up the bag of leftovers and slowly begins to trudge back to Rey and the Dreaded Poe as the tall fighter – Faz, Poe had called her -  is greeted by a pink-cheeked Asian woman who he’d seen standing with Rey for most of the fight. The woman helps Faz pull off her gauntlets and hands her a bottle of water, and she pulls off her helmet and…

Suddenly Ben is walking in water.

He knows her. That platinum hair, even flattened by sweat, and that striking face, even reddened by exercise and lacking the usual impeccable makeup. He knows this woman; he sees her almost every day.

It’s Gwen Phasma. He’s only ever called her Gwen, but it’s definitely her. Phasma. Faz. _Phas_.

Gwen looks up, meets Ben’s eyes and shoots him a smile. She recognizes him too. His brain is trying to process this when he hears Rey’s voice shout: “FINN!!” She runs from where she’s been standing next to Poe over to the second fighter, who has also removed his helmet and hood and is drinking a bottle of water while Snap stands behind him, untying his coat. His face is shiny with sweat and his telltale dreads are limper than usual, but there’s no doubt; this is Their Finn.

At the sound of her voice Finn’s head jerks over and he looks at Rey with trepidation, but only for a moment when he sees how she’s overjoyed to see him. She runs up to him and gives him a hug, to the chagrin of Snap, still working on the ties, then pushes the sunglasses up on her head and bounces up and down, clapping her hands and although Ben isn’t close enough to hear what she’s saying, from the look on Finn’s face he’s sure it’s something sweet and full of praise. Finn’s also checking out her dress, which makes Ben feel a bit of warmth in his belly. But then Poe ambles over to them and Finn introduces her, not realizing that they already met.

Ben stops. He knows what’s going to happen and there’s nothing he can do. All he can do is watch.

Snap helps Finn pull off the coat and Finn puts his arm around Rey and kisses her cheek. Poe points at Finn, then at Rey and says something which causes Finn to nod. Then he looks over at Ben, dramatically raises his arm, and shouts, loudly enough that everyone in the area can hear, “But I thought _Ben_ was Rey’s boyfriend!”

Gwen lowers her water bottle and raises an eyebrow at him. Her smile transforms into something almost wolfish.

Ben can’t move, he can’t breathe, he can’t think. This is happening too fast.

He could run away; the leftovers from brunch could feed him for a day or so. The Audi isn’t too far, he could run to it and drive away. He could go to his parents’ house, to his old bedroom, hide in the closet like he used to when he was a kid and he wanted to avoid his parents’ arguing. Or he could drive to the airport and just… fly somewhere. Maybe Montana. He can go to a mountain in Montana and no one will ever see him again. Or somewhere closer; to the woods. He could drive up into the woods, to the clearing in the woods…

Thinking of the clearing where they met brings him back into his own body, to Finn and Rey standing there, not even fifty feet away, arms around each other and looking right at him. He thinks of Finn at the farmer’s market, a red bandana tied around his head, trying to decide which bunch of carrots will look better in the roasting pan while he waits patiently, even though he thinks it’s a ridiculous thing to consider. He thinks of Rey in her pretty sundress, sipping coffee and coming up with more and more absurd ideas about how Finn might be spending his Sundays. And he thinks of the two of them, wound around each other in his bed, wound around him, sharing breath and space in the early mornings in the minutes before they have to get up and start their days. He loves the life they have, and he doesn’t want his own fear of what other people will think to get in the way of that.

Rey holds a hand out towards him and mouths his name.

Only an hour ago Ben had told her that he didn’t want to escape, that he wanted her to hold him down until he cried. He’d intended it as a sexy tease, but maybe this is what he really meant. Facing his own discomfort and walking boldly into the unknown. He’s struck by another memory from childhood, standing with his father at the pool, crying because he didn’t know how to swim, and although he desperately wanted to be able to do it he was afraid to try because he might fail. His dad was frustrated, and he finally said, “Kid, if you want to learn to swim, you just have to jump in the water.”

So Ben jumps.

Finn and Rey are the only other people in the world, and he feels their eyes on him as he moves towards them. With every step Ben feels lighter, breath comes easier, and he slowly rises up out of the ocean. As he comes closer the uncertainty on their faces is replaced by something optimistic, and at the same time he realizes he’s smiling, their own faces reflect absolute delight. Rey is laughing when he reaches them. Ben takes her hand and places his other palm against Finn’s cheek, still hot and moist with sweat. He kisses him softly, then presses their foreheads together and breathes, “You are magnificent.” Finn sighs, a soft, sweet noise, and kisses him back. Rey bounces up and hugs them both, and for a moment there are kisses and giggles all around.

Until Poe clears his throat, loudly, ruining the mood and bringing them back to earth. Ben looks over and Gwen is there too, she’s set her water bottle in the grass and is holding her sword in her left hand, point to the ground. She’s now scrutinizing him as though she’s a predator and he’s her unfortunate prey.

“Hello, Solo,” she says, her voice low and melliferous, belying her physical stature.

“Hey, Gwen,” Ben replies, running a hand through his hair and doing his best to maintain eye contact.

Finn and Poe both look between them. Finn speaks first, confused, “Ben, how do you know Phas?”

Gwen smirks, her eyes still on Ben, dancing with amusement. “Well, Storm, we work together. We’re both associates at the Snoke & Associates Law Firm over in Springfield. Isn’t that right, Ben?”

He nods, turning to Finn, who looks a bit bewildered. “Gwen and I work on a lot of cases together. She was on that trip I took the other week.”

Gwen chuckles. “Yes I was. Although I didn’t sleep too well, the walls of the hotel were far too thin, I could hear _everything_ from the next room.” At this Rey gasps and her cheeks turn pink, and Ben wishes he could sink into the ground, but Gwen laughs harder and Finn has the nerve to join her. He rubs his chin against Ben’s shoulder and sighs, “You were pretty hot, you know.”

Well he _was_ , but he doesn’t really want _Gwen_ to know that.

Oddly enough it’s Poe who comes to the rescue. “So, Ben and Rey, it is such a pleasure to meet you both. Of course any boyfriend or girlfriend of Storm is welcome here, among the valiant Knights of the Resistance!” Gwen rolls her eyes and reaches out to shake hands with Rey.

“Rey, it really is a pleasure,” she says warmly. Ben is pleased to see that her moment of borderline-vicious amusement has passed since she’s succeeded in making him feel so very uncomfortable in front of a group of strangers. “Have you met Rose? She’s my squire, and the lead on weapons development for the group. She’s also a huge sweetheart. Hey Rose!” She calls over her shoulder, and the woman Ben had watched help Gwen with her gauntlets earlier hops over to formally meet Rey.

Meanwhile Ben is in the awkward position of watching Poe hand over forty dollars to Snap while he berates Finn for keeping their relationship a secret. Apparently for the past six weeks or so Finn has been _acting strange_ , so they’d started taking bets around the group about what could be going on, and Snap and Poe had made a bet that Storm had actually been _dating_ somebody. The bet had been for twenty dollars, but Snap is insistent: “There are two of them. Twenty dollars for _each_ , not twenty total, you old cheater-ass scrooge.” Finn laughs along with them but keeps hold of Ben’s hand, which helps him feel a little more comfortable.

Neither of them told the men that they’d only known each other for a month. Ben could guess what the other two weeks of odd behavior had been about. He squeezes Finn’s fingers in silent solidarity.

Ben looks over and watches Rey help Rose take the plate armor off Gwen. The metal plates are sewn onto some kind of backing, so they untie and remove the plates in sections, eventually revealing Gwen’s statuesque form in a black long-sleeved bodysuit, which she quickly covers with a black leather jacket. It seems like a bit much for the late Spring warmth, but Ben figures that suits Gwen just fine.

“Hey, what are you wearing under that?” Ben asks Finn, running a hand over one chainmail-covered shoulder.

Finn smiles seductively and looks pointedly at Ben’s lips, and whispers, “Would you like to find out?” – before breaking into an honest smile. “Nah, I’m wearing something similar to what Phas is wearing as my base layer. Over that there’s this padded jacket called a gambeson which helps protect my body from bruising, which as you saw out there is important, so it gets pretty hot. The bodysuit is made of a special fabric that helps sweat evaporate. It does have the unfortunate side-effect of being a bit smelly, but there are showers at the armory, which is where we usually go after these outdoor events. Anyway.” Finn takes Ben’s hand, interlocking their fingers and walking back towards the trees, away from everyone else. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this. It just felt… I don’t know, weird, like crossing the streams. I’ve been a part of the Knights for as long as I’ve lived here, almost five years now, and until I met you and Rey they’ve pretty much been my social life. I was going to tell you about them eventually, I just wanted to wait until I was ready. But this is fine too, saves me the trouble of trying to make it into a performance.” He’s looking at the ground in front of his feet, not at Ben, but Ben gets it.

“Sweetheart,” Ben murmurs, and Finn looks up at the gentle tone. “It’s fine. I’m glad you have friends, people you care about, a passion. I saw you fight, you’re really good. And you made this armor yourself! It’s incredible.” Finn beams with pleasure. Ben sighs. “I don’t really have friends, aside from you and Rey, and before you two I hadn’t had real friends for a long time, probably since college. My coworkers don’t really like me, I mean you saw how Gwen was.” They both glance back to see Rose showing Rey a variety of weapons spread out on the ground, both women howling with laughter as Gwen looks on. Nearby Poe and Snap are demonstrating some moves to a small group of teenagers.

“Hey man, that’s just Phas being Phas. You don’t know her well, that’s all. She’s gotta be different here than she is at work. And that teasing she did? She _totally_ likes you, if she didn’t she wouldn’t bother, trust me.” Finn gives Ben a peck on the cheek and catches his eye. “People like you, Ben. You just need to give them a chance.” He lowers his voice to a whisper, “Stop being so afraid.”

Ben nods, promising himself that he will try. But there’s one more question he has, and he needs to pick his words carefully because he isn’t jealous, he really isn’t, but if he’s not careful Finn will think he is and he doesn’t think he could take that…

“I know what you’re thinking, baby.” Ben is knocked out of his reverie and glances back at Finn, who is looking at him with a soft smile. He rolls his eyes. “You’re so transparent. I’m not going to make you ask, I know you’re wondering so I’ll just tell you. The answer is yes, I’ve had some kind of sex with pretty much everyone in the Knights, including Poe, sorry, and Gwen, also sorry, but… actually you know what, not really that sorry, sorry.” Ben leans against the nearest tree reeling, just a bit, but it helps that Finn is being so matter-of-fact about it. It hurts a little to know, but it would hurt worse if he didn’t know. Plus, he’s the one taking Finn home tonight, he’s the one who shares his future. Right?

Finn continues, “The only one I haven’t slept with, oddly enough, is Rose. She had a big crush on me when she first joined, asked me out a few times, but I just didn’t feel it, and it seemed wrong to sleep with her when she wanted something more, you know?”

Ben nods at that. “I’ve, uh, been on the other side of that. So, thanks, I guess. It hurts to feel used. You’re a good friend.”

Finn kisses his cheek again, then suddenly bends over and starts shaking. Ben shouts and jumps away and Finn stands up laughing, his chainmail shirt in a pile on the ground. “Sorry, I was getting hot.” He pulls off the grey padded jacket that was underneath and stands back, now wearing only the black bodysuit and what look like chainmail chaps and iron boots, and gestures to the pile of metal. Ben reaches down to pick it up and groans as he lifts it.

“This is so heavy! It’s at least, what, 45 pounds?” He takes a moment to admire how the metal loops link together to form a regular surface, almost like a knitted sweater. “Oh, this is really wonderful, Finn.”

Finn blushes and takes the shirt, draping it over his arm. “You need to stop saying that or I’m gonna get used to it. Seriously though, thanks. I’m glad you guys ran into us today, and I’m glad you don’t just think I’m a huge nerd for being into this. It’s really important to me.”

Ben sighs and puts his arm around Finn’s shoulder, turning them back towards the group. They can see Rey, now wearing a chainmail hood over her head, Rose showing her how to hold Gwen’s longsword in both hands. Ben groans and Finn laughs, and they walk back over to join her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "If you're going to learn to swim you just have to jump in the water" is a quote from _[Flight of the Navigator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator)_ , my favorite movie when I was ten.
> 
>  
> 
> [Reference for the fight between Finn and Phasma.](https://youtu.be/kgucKLb0fdk)
> 
>  
> 
>   
> ^^^ This is really how you take off a chainmail shirt. After seeing this I couldn't not include it in a scene.
> 
> I was trying to do a lot with this and I hope it works. It's mostly about Ben, I feel like the last one focused on Rey so I wanted to get him more time, especially interacting with the other two separately.
> 
> After writing this I went back and read "Pillow Talk" again and let me tell you it made me laugh thinking about Phasma in the next room listening to Ben yelling filth into the phone and masturbating. She just put two and two together a minute before he did; she's not a bad person. And Finn's right, she really does like Ben.
> 
> Poe is kind of a jerk but he's not bad, although he is a bit jealous because Finn suddenly stopped answering his booty calls.
> 
> And for the record: Going to the farmer's market together on a Saturday morning is _definitely_ a date, Ben is just a bit slow to catch on.
> 
> This is my last day of vacation (alas!) so I don't know when I'll be able to update the series, but if you have any questions about this AU or ideas for scenes you'd like to see please feel free to drop me a prompt at leofgyth on Tumblr and I'll see what I can do!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn finally tells the whole truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have added some new tags to the story along with this chapter. Specifically this chapter includes non-explicit mention of child sex abuse. If you don't want to read those mentions you can skip the two bits - just a few lines - between the three asterisks (***). 
> 
> This chapter did get a bit darker than I thought it would, especially in contrast to the first chapter which was relatively lighthearted, but I think this is really important for these guys moving forward.

That evening after dinner Rey and Ben are hanging out in the living room while Finn cleans up the kitchen. He always cooks when he's over, and usually cleans up too, because he loves them and he wants to take care of them. Keeping them nourished is part of that, as is making sure they get enough sleep, that everyone has enough sex, and that they maintain open communication.

He's thinking about the last one right now, as he wipes down the stainless steel tabletop of the kitchen island, because although he prides himself on his communication skills the events of this morning have him worried that he's not being honest with himself, or with them.

He hadn't told them about the Knights. There were reasons not to, some of which he'd shared with Ben this morning. But he should have told them, he really should have, when they were first getting to know each other, during their first couple of weeks together. He could have told them that very first Sunday, a few days after they'd met. He'd set a silent alarm on his phone and sneaked out without saying goodbye, just leaving a note saying that he had something to do and he'd make them dinner on Monday. He'd perceived Rey's disappointment and Ben's detachment when he showed up on Monday after work, bag of groceries under his arm like some kind of peace offering, like everything was fine. _Finn's here to take care of you, everything is fine._

Everything is  _not_ fine, and it's his fault. He hasn't told them the real reason why he kept the Knights secret, and he had the opportunity to tell Ben this afternoon and  _didn't_ , and he feels like a fake, like the biggest fucking liar and he hates it. So he's going to tell them now. He's going to go into that room and tell them,  _right now_.

He pushes open the door that separates the two rooms just a crack and peeks in, where he can see past the dining area into the living area. Rey's kneeling on the floor reading some kind of technical manual laid out on the coffee table, pen in hand, damp hair piled on top of her head. Her bare toes are poking out from under her butt, and she's wearing soft-looking pink pajama bottoms and a matching sleeveless top that she changed into after her shower. As Finn watches she takes the pen and reaches over to poke the flat end into the big toe of Ben's right foot, which rests on the far corner of the coffee table, his legs stretching from where he lounges in one of the puffy leather armchairs that flank the equally puffy leather sofa. Ben smiles and looks at her over the rim of his reading glasses, over the stack of papers in his lap he's reading through for one of his and Phas's cases. He's also changed out of his work clothes and is looking relaxed in a ratty teeshirt for some band Finn's never heard of and a pair of sweatpants cut off at the knees. Finn can't see her face because her back is to him, but he imagines Rey lifting her eyebrows at Ben and returning his smile before getting back to her research. They look content, just like he wants them to be. He steps through the door and clears his throat

* * *

Rey looks back as Finn comes through the door to the kitchen and can't help smiling. She feels like she knows him so much better after today, like she's peeling the layers off an onion and getting closer to the core of him. She has no doubt that the Finn they have known until now is a genuine Finn, but this man has depths and she wants to swim in all of them. He has  _the coolest_ hobby, and great friends who might become her friends (especially Phas and Rose; she's never had a real girlfriend, someone she can sit up late with on the phone and talk about boys and do makeup with, and she thinks Rose might just be The One). And he can fight like a knight and  _make armor_ and he looks  _so good in that armor_ , she blushes thinking about it. After packing up at the park they'd followed him back to the armory, which is just an old warehouse out in Floyd but so much more. They'd installed a furnace on the ground floor for metalworking, there are also areas for leather- and fabric-working, and the entire second floor is an open area for sparring practice, weapons and shields hanging on the walls and various dummies and other objects for practice scattered around. The building is set into the side of a hill, with a large parking lot and a creek on the other side, so there is lots of room and Rey finds it rustic and beautiful. The whole place smells organic and warm. She loves it.

She looks at Finn now, walking past the dining table and towards her, red bandana around his head, wearing tattered jeans that almost cover the toes of his bare feet and a black teeshirt decorated by a wrench that looks like an erection, sleeves ripped off to expose his arms. He touches her shoulder and kisses the top of her head, and she adores him. He walks over to Ben, who has also been watching him, steps over his legs and gives him a kiss, then sits on the sofa, hands on his knees, and exhales.

Then he just... sits there. Not saying anything. Which is... a bit strange, really. Rey looks at Ben and he looks at her, she raises an eyebrow and he shrugs, and all the while Finn sits quietly, looking straight ahead, drumming fingers on his knees.

Rey puts down her pen. "Finn?" He looks at her and smiles, but it looks more like a grimace, and she understands that something is seriously wrong. She stands up and walks around the coffeetable to sit by him, facing him, knees touching his, and takes his hand. "Finn, please say something, because you are acting weird and it's starting to freak me out."

This seems to get to him. As soon as he realizes she's uncomfortable he sits up straight and looks her right in the eye.

"I have something I need to tell you, both of you." He looks over his shoulder at Ben, who sets his papers on the ground next to the chair and leans forward, elbows to knees, pushing his reading glasses onto his head. "So today, at the park, I... no, wait." He stands up and gestures to Rey. "This will be easier if we switch places, so I can see you both, okay?" Rey nods and stands up, and he puts his hands on her hips as she scoots past him to sit in the corner of the sofa closest to where Ben sits in his chair. 

They get settled and he starts again. "Rey, at the park today when you were off with Rose and Phas, I apologized to Ben for not telling you guys about the Knights, and I really should apologize to both of you. I told him that it was weird, having this really sudden new thing and combining it with the old one, and I was  _planning_ to tell you, and introduce you to those guys, I would have done it eventually. I would have." Rey nods. She trusts him.

He continues, "I also told him, in not as many words, that I hesitated to introduce you because Ben can be a little, oh, jealous maybe? And I was afraid that might be an issue too, because, frankly, I've slept with pretty much all of the Knights. So that's an added level of awkward, on top of the general bringing together of social groups."

Rey is completely unsurprised by any of this, but at the mention of jealousy she can hear Ben shifting behind her, and when Finn stops talking he says, "Hey!" She turns around and puts her hand on his knee, silencing him with a stony look.

"Ben,  _please_. I saw the way you looked at Poe when I was talking to him this morning. You looked like you wanted to punch him. You are not subtle."

Finn nods and points at him. "And yesterday, at the farmer's market, I was talking to this lady who was selling honey, you'd have thought she was trying to pull off my clothes right there. He actually grabbed my arm and pulled me away from her!" 

Ben mumbles, "She was  _flirting_ with you," and looks irritated, but Rey squeezes his knee and leans back to give him a kiss on the cheek. "It's kind of cute, most of the time. Just, not too much, okay? There's no reason. Neither of us is going anywhere without you now. You know that, right?"

Ben folds his arms and looks at the ceiling. "I know, I do. It's just, I don't like thinking about you being with other people. And... we're not, right? Can we all agree?" He looks at Rey, still turned back to him, then at Finn. "That's this is us and just us?"

Rey scoots over to the chair and perches on his knee, and Finn laughs and walks over to sit on his other knee, and they share a group hug. Finn says, "Just us," and Rey agrees: "Yes." Then to Ben, "Better?" 

Ben nods, gives Finn a solid kiss on the mouth, then pushes him away. "This is sweet but you're heavy, man, go back and sit over there." Finn gives him one more kiss, kisses Rey too for good measure, then moves back to the sofa where Rey'd been sitting a moment ago. She stays on Ben's lap.

"There's more, though." Finn rubs his palms on his thighs while Rey leans back and plays with the hairs on Ben's neck. "The big reason I was putting off introducing you is because I was trying to protect you." 

Rey stills with a realization. "Wait. Is this because of Hux?"

Finn looks completely shocked. Rey waves her hand at him. "Finn, I spent _two hours_ today with Rose Tico, and she chats almost as much as you do. I thought you'd notice. She told me about him, what he did, how he's _run away._ Showed me the photos of you guys sparring, everything." She looks chastened. "I'm sorry I didn't mention it, it just... didn't seem like a big deal." She pauses a moment, clasping her hands together nervously. "This whole time you... haven't seemed very bothered by it. Not like me and Ben."

For the second time in their brief relationship, Rey knows what Finn looks like when he's angry. She really doesn't like it. He's breathing deeply, doing his best to stay calm. "Rey, you work every day at that garage, don't you." She nods, unable to break eye contact, and Ben circles his arm around her waist protectively. "And how is that going?"

Rey swallows and holds onto Ben's arm where it wraps around her, taking comfort in his heat. "It's... fine? When we cleaned up the day after we threw out so much stuff, and I've been doing what I can to reorganize a bit without being too obvious about it, since he might still come back, you know. It's really fine."

Finn leans closer, takes her hand. He seems less angry, and more sad. "How's the house?" Rey's mind goes blank for a moment and she tenses up and tries to pull her hand away, but he holds on tight. Ben pulls her closer and hisses " _Finn_ ," in a tone clearly meant as a rebuke.

The two men stare each other down, but Rey comes back to herself and pats Ben's arm, sighing, "It's okay, Ben. I see where he's going." She looks at Finn, tears on her eyelashes. "I haven't gone in there since the day I moved in here. I have no interest in doing so. The mail all comes to the garage anyway, so there's no reason for me to go in there. I have only terrible memories of that place and as soon as we can declare him officially dead I'm going to tear it down and salt the earth where it stands." She wipes a tear away that's finally fallen down her cheek.

Finn kisses her hand and lets it go, leaning back and crossing his arms over his lap. "My situation is different, but I want you to think about how you have this... emotional attachment to that place. You have bad memories, you'd like to tear it down. I have good ones. I have spent the best five years of my life up to now in the armory, with that group of people. They are my closest friends, and I love them so much, we've been through so much together." He's getting more emotional as he talks, until he has to stop and put his head in his hands, shoulders shaking.

Rey and Ben sit for a moment, shocked. Their Finn, happy, talkative, nerdy, sexy Finn, is crying, and they aren't sure what to do about this. Rey gets up and sits next to him, puts her arms around him and lays her cheek on his shoulder. Ben pushes back the coffeetable to make room for himself and kneels at his feet, placing his hands on Finn's thighs, touching their foreheads together. After a moment Finn stops shaking, but doesn't move otherwise.

Ben says it softly: "Hux was your friend."

Finn breathes in and out, a shuddering breath, and lowers his hands. His eyes are red and his face is streaked with tears, which Ben wipes away with his knuckles. Finn takes Ben's hand and holds it against his own cheek. 

"Hux was my  _best_ friend. He was the first person I met when I moved here, and he introduced me to the Knights. Me and Hux and Poe, we were like," and he crosses the fingers of his left hand. "He was... prickly is the word, maybe. Kind of serious, took himself seriously, but also really funny. He was the kind of guy it took a while to get through to, but once you did, you were friends for life." Finn chokes, and Rey rubs his back in a manner she hopes is soothing for him. He glances over to her, still holding Ben's palm against his face. "Rose told you what he did?"

Rey nods slowly and looks at Ben. "Did you hear this? I think you were outside with Snap and Jess when we were having this conversation."

Ben shakes his head. "I don't remember hearing anything about Hux today. I was a little overwhelmed, though."

***Rey gives him a small smile, then looks at the ground and frowns, trying to block out some of the details. "Apparently, once he didn't show up to work after his staycation, somebody called his landlord who went into his apartment and discovered folders of photographs. They were... organized, like into files. Labeled. He had a darkroom in a closet or something, so he could develop his own film. He didn't use anything digital; that's what Rose said." She pauses and then mutters, "I don't want to say what the photos were of."

Ben takes his right hand from Finn's thigh and puts it on Rey's knee, squeezing gently. "You don't have to. I think I get the idea." Rey presses her lips together and nods.

Finn shudders. "Hux took those pictures. According to the news reports he was  _in_ some of those pictures.*** He was a fucking monster and I didn't know it, for  _years_ I had no idea. _You_ guys," he takes a moment to look into Ben's eyes, then Rey's, " _you_ had monsters you hated. You knew it, you knew they were monsters and one day you just couldn't take it any more and you  _snapped_." He shakes his head, looking disgusted, "I had a monster I  _loved_." 

* * *

Ben is feeling so out of his element. Until a month ago he'd never comforted anybody,  _ever_ , and although he's had some experience with Rey now he certainly never expected to be in a position to have to comfort Finn. Finn, who is crying hard again, leaking tears and snot on Ben's shoulder. Rey is leaning against him, rubbing his back and doing her best, Ben is sure, but she looks like she feels as unsuited to the task as Ben does. So Ben raids his memories for something that might help and finds one: he was eight, maybe nine years old, and he'd found an old cassette tape that he'd used to listen to at bedtime, when he was a little kid, when he was a _just a baby_. He listened to it again for fun and giggles, but before a few minutes had passed he realized that it was making him sad, making him _cry_ , and he didn't understand why. He'd gone to find his mother, and she'd pulled him into her lap and held him, stroking his hair and telling him  _you're growing up, that's all. Time is moving forward and you can't stop it and this is the first time you're noticing it_. The situation is different but he remembers how good it felt, being held and rocked.

So that's what he does. He pulls Finn forward and off the edge of the sofa, crosses his legs and arranges Finn on his lap, holding him tight and rocking him. If Finn is surprised he doesn't let on, allowing Ben to pull him close, and his crying slows down until it eventually stops altogether. He holds the front of Ben's shirt loosely in one fist. Meanwhile Rey has wandered off, but she comes back with a box of tissues, and she kneels next to them, cooing and gently wiping the wetness from Finn's face. 

"Is that better?" She asks him, as she dabs a tissue along his chin.

He nods. "Yeah, a little. Thanks guys." Then as he comes back to himself, he gasps and tries to sit up. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry."

Ben holds him tight and pulls him back down. "Sorry for what, for finally telling us what's apparently been bothering you for weeks?" As he speaks Ben comprehends his own emotions, and he's  _pissed_ , angry that Finn has been keeping them out, but instead of pushing him away he tries to channel it into something more constructive. "We're here for you, sweetheart. I know you like taking care of us, but we can take care of you too. We're not just some broken things, we're not your  _project_."

Finn tried to interrupt but Rey interjects warningly, "Finn, let him speak," and he relaxes back down into Ben's lap. 

Ben continues, "I know you consider yourself our caretaker or whatever, but we are here for you, Finn. We can support you too; we love you. Don't we, Rey." He looks at Rey, realizes what he's just said and pushes it down, just for a moment, to get through this immediate conversation. Which is stressful, but also important, and good.

Rey puts her hand on Finn's cheek and runs her thumb along his lower lip. "You know we do, Love. We don't have much experience with this, but let us learn. Let us take care of you, okay?" She looks so lovely, and she's being so gentle and kind to Finn. Ben loves her, so much. He tucks this realization away for later.

Finn nods and closes his eyes, relaxing further into Ben's arms. ***"Anyway, a couple of months ago I went to pick him up for an event, and he was still getting ready so I was like, hanging out in his living room while he was in the bathroom, and there was this folder on the table, and I snooped. Opened it up, closed it right back. Didn't need to see more than that one picture, I knew what was going on. The folder was full. It was labeled in his handwriting, with a name. You don't put labels on folders unless you have lots of them to keep track of. I'm not  _stupid_." He stops to breathe, and seems to take solace being surrounded by Ben and Rey. He swallows and continues, quietly. "He was a teacher at a school for special needs kids. I really admired him for that, thought he was doing important work, helping kids, you know? But he was just a fucking monster."*** Another moment of silence. "He didn't know I knew, when he came out I was on the sofa, playing with my phone or something, and I had to pretend like nothing was wrong, like everything was fine, just fine. And that night I started planning, and now here we are." He raises his free hand to gesture to them, then drops it back into his lap. He looks exhausted.

Rey sits up on her knees and places a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for telling us. That must have been really painful."

Finn nods, tears welling up from under his eyelids and spilling down his cheeks again. Now that he's opened up he can't seem to stop. "He understood what was happening, right at the end, but I couldn't even say anything to him. I couldn't say goodbye, or tell him why I was doing it, but I think he knew. I didn't hate him, even then I loved him, I did. I just thought he was evil and he deserved to die."

Rey pulls more tissues out of the box and dabs them across his face again to soak up his tears. The three of them sit like that for a few minutes in silence, the only sounds the muffled  _whuff_ as Ben's back drags along the front of the chair as he rocks Finn back and forth, and Finn's occasional sniffs.

Finally he shifts to sit up in Ben's lap and opens his eyes, still puffy and red from crying. Rey reaches out and touches his chin. "Feeling better, Love?"

He nods and sighs. "Yes, lots, thank you guys. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just, didn't want to burden you with it, I guess. It's kind of a lot, you know?"

Ben hugs him close from behind, burying his nose in his neck and taking in his scent, a combination of the spices from tonight's dinner and the coconut oil he uses in his hair. He says, "Any time, okay? We are here for you. You need to talk to us," and his voice comes out more roughly than he expects it to.

Rey clears her throat and smiles at Finn. "I'm glad you told us, too. But sorry, I still don't understand how keeping us apart from the Knights protects us."

Finn looks confused for a moment, then the expression clears. "Oh right! I did say that. Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, as you discovered this morning, Rey, they talk about Hux. It's traumatic to find out someone you trusted isn't who you thought they were, especially in a way that's so public and deplorable. For Rose it's a bit different, because she never really liked him and she feels vindicated, but anyway. He was a big part of her life and now he's disappeared after doing something terrible. I just... didn't want you to be exposed to that, so soon after your own traumas. Does that make sense?" They both nod and Ben rubs his nose against Finn's neck again and kisses it. Finn smiles, just a bit, and sighs.

"The second reason is more practical, and has me worried now that I know Ben works with Phas."

Ben nods against Finn's shoulder. He thinks he understands.

Rey shakes her head and looks lost. Finn takes her hands in his and gives them a little squeeze. "Baby, three people disappeared at about the same time, three people who at the time had no connection to each other. Except, now we find out they  _did_ , because Phas worked for Snoke and was also in the Knights with Hux." 

Rey clearly hadn't considered this angle before. Ben can see her gripping Finn's hands as she tries to keep herself centered. She whispers, as though to herself. "And now, there's us. And me, with... And it would seem suspicious, wouldn't it, for the three of us to be together so soon after we all had someone close to us disappear." Ben can see her starting to drift, pulling away, and so he reaches around Finn and with the other man's help drags her into his lap too. Ben goes "Oof," actually says it, and uncrosses his legs so he can wrap them around his lovers, holding them both with his arms and legs. Rey looks better immediately, calm, and strokes her hand lightly along the hair on Ben's leg where it wraps around and beside her.

Finn sighs. "Right, that's exactly it. Now, I don't actually know what the likelihood is that the police will find out, because technically the three disappearances are in different towns, so presumably they're being handled by different forces. And they're treating Hux as a perpetrator of a crime, not as a victim. They think he ran away." He glances at Rey, looking guilty. "They actually interviewed all of us about it, last week, came to the armory and everything. Sorry I didn't tell you." Rey rolls her eyes and Ben smacks him on the side of the head. 

"Ow!"

"No more secrets, Finn," Ben hopes he sounds like he means it. "Okay?" He looks down at Rey's face and pulls her closer. "You too, Rey. And me. No more secrets from each other. This is no fun." They all nod in agreement and Ben kisses them each on the cheek.

Finn continues. "Anyway, we have a solid cover story for you, Rey, and he's only just been declared missing so I think that's fine. We just need to come up with a convincing story about how we met that makes it look like a coincidence that we just happen to all be involved in missing persons cases at the same time, if it comes to that. And it helps a lot that we didn't know each other until more recently, so there's no way a case can be made about any kind of collaboration." He's thoughtful for moment. "Did anyone ask you guys how we met?"

Rey replies, "Yeah, Poe and Rose both did. I just told them it wasn't an interesting story and I wouldn't bore them with it. How about you?"

Finn nods and laughs. "Poe asked me too, I told him it was none of his business. How about you, Ben?"

"Gwen asked. I told her to fuck off and she laughed at me." At this, Finn guffaws and then sighs.

"Yeah, that's on brand for both of you."

They sit for a moment. Ben wants them near to him, close as they can be, so he pulls them to him again. At this point they're basically lying on top of him, and he loves it. "Without bodies, there isn't any case though. No bodies, no case, no matter what else happens. So as long as nobody digs them up, we stay safe."

Finn nods. "That's true, I guess. There's not a lot we can do about that except pray."

Rey speaks up then. "I know how we met. There was a festival over in Caswell that weekend, some kind of "Welcome to Summer" thing. Someone came by the garage and put up a poster for it, it looked like fun even though I was never gonna go. But that's the kind of place there are lots of people and you might hook up in a crowd, right?" She looks back and forth between them.

Finn smiles. "I was even there on Sunday! The Knights did a demonstration. Afterwards we spent some time wandering around, and I went off by myself for a while just because I was feeling weird, you know. But it wouldn't be unheard of for me to go to a festival and find a pretty boy and girl to give my number to." Ben grunts and pulls him up to kiss the top of his head, and Rey punches his arm. He just laughs. "I'm saying that's a great idea, and believable. You guys spent Sunday at the apartment, right?"

Ben blushes, deeply, remembering exactly how they'd spent that Sunday, the two of them alone in his apartment for the first time. They'd both been thinking about Finn, and had consecrated every flat surface they could figure out how to consecrate. He shifts his butt back on the floor and exhales, which is difficult because their bodies are both pretty much holding him down.

Finn looks up into Ben's eyes, then down to his mouth, pointedly, raising an eyebrow. "Glad you guys had fun. I would _really_ like to hear about that sometime.  _Anyway_ , let's say that we were all there, that I saw you, Ben, during the demo, and you looked _so_   _fine_ that I tracked you down later. And you were talking to Rey at the ice cream stand, and she was also  _fine_ , and numbers were exchanged, and then here we are. Just enough detail to be convincing. Does that work?"

"That sounds very, uh, on brand for you," says Rey, poking him. "Not so much for me and Ben, maybe, but you do have a reputation for being very charming so. It works for me."

Ben agrees and checks his watch; it's getting late. "Almost bedtime, guys," he sighs, and scoots back. Rey gets up but he holds onto Finn, extracts himself from around him, then kneels next to him like a knight. As the other two watch in confusion he puts one arm around Finn's back and one under his knees, lifts him to his chest, and slowly stands up, pushing up with his legs as he's always been instructed. Finn is a heavy dude, and Ben is surprised he can do it, but he does.

Finn and Rey are impressed too. Rey looks like she's seen the birth of the universe and it is a glorious thing. Either that or she's about to have an orgasm in her charming pink jammies. Her face is flushed and her pupils are dilated and she's the cutest fucking thing Ben's ever seen. Until he looks in his arms and sees Finn, gazing up at him with what he hopes is some sort of adoration.

" _Woah_ , baby. How long have you been holding out on us?" He looks happy but exhausted, and Ben wants to kiss him but he also knows how precarious their position is at the moment.

"Just found out. I'm gonna try to carry you into the bedroom and throw you on the bed, but don't be mad if I can't make it. You're kinda heavy."

Talking leaves him breathless, and Finn laughs. "It's pure muscle, baby. Lead on, MacDuff!" And Ben leads on, step by step, and although he doesn't quite make it to the bed neither Finn nor Rey care too much.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finn likes Tool, and I love this shirt, so.  
> 
> 
>   
> Thank you to [selunchen](https://selunchen.tumblr.com) on Tumblr for this beautiful artwork of the scene of Ben and Rey comforting Finn in this chapter.
> 
> So Hux was really, really not a nice guy but nobody knew it except for Finn. Now everybody knows. I am not a big fan of Hux in canon but writing this was literally painful. I know that I did Hux dirty, and I accept that.
> 
> I think this was a really important chapter for Finn. Up to now he's been both easygoing and in charge, and he _is_ , but he needs to learn that he can't be just that all the time. He needs to let the other two in, and I hope he's learned his lesson. I'm also not saying that Finn is right doing what he did (murder is bad!) but I kind of admire his ethical core. And it fits what we've seen of him so far: He sees a thing that needs doing, and he does it. He is a man with a plan.
> 
> I think the next couple of stories will be more smutty, because writing this chapter wrung me dry. I hope some of you enjoy it, or something.


End file.
